The Italian designer closes a measured chapter at Tod’s as the luxury house prepares to sharpen its focus on craftsmanship, recognizable brand codes and the Italian lifestyle.
Another major creative seat in luxury fashion is opening.
Tod’s has confirmed that Matteo Tamburini is stepping down as creative director, bringing his nearly three-year tenure at the Italian house to an end. Tamburini’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection, presented during Milan Fashion Week in September 2026, was his final collection for the brand. Tod’s has not announced a successor.
The departure comes as Tod’s says it intends to place greater emphasis on clearly communicating the values of the house, the recognizability of its codes, its artisanal expertise and the Italian lifestyle that has long shaped its identity.
For a company known globally for leather craftsmanship and icons such as the Gommino driving shoe, that language is significant. Rather than signaling an abandonment of the house’s heritage, Tod’s appears to be putting that heritage even closer to the center of its strategy.
A Designer Closely Matched to Tod’s DNA
Tamburini joined Tod’s in December 2023, succeeding Walter Chiapponi and assuming responsibility for both the women’s and men’s collections.
Born in Urbino and raised in Pesaro, Tamburini arrived with an extensive background in European luxury. His career included work at Rochas and Schiaparelli, followed by Emilio Pucci, before he joined Bottega Veneta in 2017. There he worked as a head designer across leatherwear, outerwear and tailoring — experience particularly suited to a house where leather and craftsmanship remain fundamental.
His Tod’s debut came with the Fall/Winter 2024–25 womenswear collection in Milan.
From the beginning, Tamburini approached Tod’s without attempting to overwhelm its identity. His collections favored restraint: supple leather, precise but relaxed tailoring, softened silhouettes and an increasingly sophisticated interpretation of everyday Italian dressing.
That philosophy continued through his later collections.
For Spring/Summer 2027, Tamburini looked back toward the visual culture of the 1990s while considering the relationship between personal memory and the evolution of Tod’s itself. It became an appropriate closing statement for a designer whose work at the house was consistently concerned with translating heritage rather than simply reproducing it.
Craft Rather Than Spectacle
Tamburini’s Tod’s rarely relied on spectacle.
Instead, much of his work focused on what happens when materials, construction and proportion become the luxury proposition themselves.
For Fall 2026, he spoke about craftsmanship, quality and the act of making as something increasingly meaningful in contemporary life. For Spring 2027 menswear, that thinking developed into an exploration of Italian daily life through weathered leather, linen, understated tailoring and garments designed to feel lived in rather than overly precious.
It was an approach that made sense for Tod’s: luxury communicated through touch, construction and longevity rather than through obvious branding.
A House in Transition
Tamburini’s departure also arrives during a broader period of change at Tod’s Group.
The company was taken private in 2024 following a transaction involving L Catterton, while John Galantic, who became Tod’s Group CEO later that year, left the role in April 2026. Diego Della Valle currently serves as chairman and chief executive officer.
That makes the next creative appointment particularly important.
Tod’s does not necessarily need reinvention. Its leather expertise, Italian manufacturing heritage and internationally recognizable products already provide a strong foundation.
The greater challenge may be turning those assets into a creative identity that feels unmistakable in an increasingly competitive luxury market.
Tamburini leaves behind a Tod’s that feels refined, tactile and closely connected to its origins.